View full sizeDick Blume / The Post-StandardFile photo of the sun rise on Clinton Square in downtown Syracuse. A letter writer says Syracuse lacks a distinctive landmark that draws people here. Do you agree or disagree? What landmark do you think defines Syracuse? Send your responses to letters@syracuse.com.

Tracking commentary and opinion from around Central New York, the state and nation:

Friday's Topic:

James Oliver Secor, of Manlius, writes about distinct landmarks in Syracuse in the Readers' Page of today's Post-Standard. Here is his letter:

I am a lucky guy. I was born and raised in the proud city of Syracuse in the Empire State, in America. It doesn't get any better than that. That's just the luck of the draw. It's where you take it from there that counts.

Many of us associate landmarks with the cities they embrace. New York City has the Statue of Liberty; St. Louis has the Gateway Arch; Paris has the Eiffel Tower and London has Big Ben. Salisbury has Stonehenge; Pisa has the Leaning Tower; Giza has the Great Pyramid; Rome has the Colosseum and Athens has the Parthenon (even ruins rule). Istanbul has Hagia Sophia; Agra has the Taj Majal and, of course, Sydney has the Opera House.

All are impressive landmarks, none of which define the community, but all lend to its character and appeal like an olive in a martini. I have known more than one person who would or has traveled halfway around the world to see the Sydney Opera House. That's power!

Syracuse, of course, has many treasures of its own, like the Carrier Dome and the clever upside-down traffic light at Tipperary Hill (novel but definitely not Pavarotti.)

My point is this. We have a great little city here, but somehow it lacks that special something that sets us apart while bringing us together. It's not the degree of resources of the community, it's the degree of resourcefulness of the community. ''Hath not the potter power over the clay?'' (Romans 9:21.)